The Girl from Anaheim
by Nosedivefan01
Summary: Anna's life took a turn for the worse at a young age, but it never got her spirits down. Now, by a twist of fate, she's found herself not only on a different planet, but in a whole other Universe. Full summary inside! rewrite of the last "Girl from Anaheim". Just adding more detail, making improvements. Trust me, worth the read!
1. Just the beginning

_Full Summary: __**Anna's life took a turn for the worse at a young age, but it never got her spirits down. Now, by a twist of fate, she's found herself not only on a different planet, but in a whole different Universe. It's colder, it's less humid and it's occupied by... ducks? Now Anna must adjust to life with the ducks, but what happens when her new home is invaded? This is the new and improved story of Anna Thunderbeak, a rewrite of The Girl from Anaheim Part 1.**_

The sophomore walked in through the doors of AUHS. His dark brown locks moving around on his head loosely. His hazel eyes searched the students around him as he sat down at one of the tables in the vast commons area/food court.

Jake glanced at the clock. He shook his head. Anna was going to be late again. She had three minutes to get to school, and he knew their first period teacher wouldn't take too kindly to it. Their first period teacher was Ms Galtz, who had made it a point not to get involved with the problems of students. Honestly, he didn't know if she had actually seen the bruises Anna would walk in with sometimes, or if she was too stubborn to notice. The bell rang and Jake breathed out, picking up his backpack.

It was third period when he looked at the door to see Anna holding a tardy slip in her hand. He smiled upon seeing her, but he mostly smiled knowing she had picked a good time to come in. Their teacher was Mr. Fleischer. He had actually tried to help her, and was pretty understanding when it came to Anna's hardships and troubles.

"Jake, would you care to accompany Anna in the hall?" Mr. Fleischer asked when he saw Anna. Jake nodded and got up from the table in the room, leaving with his best friend.

Though Mr. Fleischer cared, he had made it a point to not get involved after Anna yelled at him once about what was going on.

Jake led Anna to the commons area and sat her down. She looked up at him, shame evident in her eyes. A slice above her left eyebrow stuck out to Jake, along with the bruise beginning to form around the eye.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I overslept." she explained.

"Oh Annie, I wish I would have called you." he muttered, knowing that her foster mother had probably gone after her for being late for school.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. It's mine." she blamed herself, turning away from him as he reached into his back pack and pulled out a smaller pack.

"Look at me." he commanded and she looked back up. He now held a piece of wet gauze. It stung at first when he rested it against her eye, and she breathed in sharp.

"It'll help." he promised, though he hated to see her hurt.

"Did you talk back to her?" he asked.

"Well, maybe a little." Anna admitted.

"Annie!" he scolded.

"I know, I know. But she pisses me off. Sometimes I can't help it. It just slips." she explained.

"Annie, why don't you go to the cops?" he asked sullenly, dabbing the gauze against her eyebrow.

"You know why." she scolded. "You know the Captain doesn't like me. What if he pulls me out and sends me to juvi." she muttered.

"Where would you be better off? Tortured by Selena, or juvenile hall?" he asked, throwing the gauze away.

"Considering Klegghorn's deal, I got off pretty easy." she commented.

"At what cost?" he asked, "look at you. You're constantly walking in with new bruises everyday. How long can you last, Annie?" he asked.

"Look, it's not that bad." she tried as she stood up.

"This?" she asked, pointing to the scratch he had just fixed up. "it's nothing compared to some of the shit I've been through. Trust me, Jay. It's not as bad as it seems." she promised.

"Annie, I just worry about you when you show up bruised and late. How can I not be concerned? Every monday I worry that weekend kills you. What day is it, Annie?" he asked, and it wasn't a question. He was trying to prove a point.

"It's Friday." she muttered, looking to the ground.

"Exactly." he said, point proven.

"Would it make you feel better if I stayed the weekend at your place?" she asked.

"Yes, actually." came his surprised response. she smiled at him.

"Could I?" she asked.

"My mom did say you were always welcome." he decided.

"Great. I'll pack a bag after school and head for your house." she said, still smiling.

"Do you have to go home to pack a bag?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Do you want me to go all weekend without brushing my teeth?" she asked.

He looked to be in thought for a moment before finally answering, "uh, yes. Yes I do." he finally decided.

"Ew! Don't worry Jake, with any luck she'll be passed out drunk on the couch by the time I get home. I'll be there and to your house before you know it." she promised.

The bell rang and he glanced back at her, "meet ya for lunch?" he asked.

"It's a date." she said before picking up her bag and heading for her next class.

* * *

After school, Anna quietly opened the door to her house. With any luck, Selena would be just where she suspected she would be; on the couch, passed out.

Instead, she didn't smell alcohol or drugs. She smelled cleanliness and scented candles. It was as if there had never been any illegal or harmful substance in the house to begin with.

"Honey, is that you?" Selena asked. She stood in the kitchen, hovering over the sink, doing dishes.

"What's going on here?" Anna asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"What ever do you mean?" Selena asked sweetly, pulling her gloves off.

"Oh, I get it. There's an inspection today." Anna muttered.

"Yes, and you had best say only good things or your other eye might be black by the end of the night." Selena's sweet exterior was suddenly gone and replaced by the usual sneer Anna was used to.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Don't worry, you'll get your check." Anna muttered just as the doorbell rang.

Selena opened the door, welcoming the social worker inside to the loveseat opposite the couch that Anna sat at.

"So, Ms. Leede. How are things?" he asked.

"Oh they're just great, right Anna?" Selena asked, smiling and patting Anna's leg.

"As great as ever." Anna partly muttered. The social worker raised his eyebrow, his green eyes searching over her.

"Anna, what happened there?" he asked, pointing to her bruised eye. She glanced, almost nervously, at Selena.

"I just hit my head on the headboard this morning when I woke up for school, Ian." she said his name as if she were talking to an old friend. He practically was. He had agreed to take her case, even when Klegghorn had elaborated on her criminal case. She was grateful to him for that.

"Oh dear, you really ought to be more careful." Selena commented.

Anna felt her blood boiled but managed to keep a straight face. How could Selena sit there and act like she hadn't laid a hand on her? They both knew that Selena had slapped her this morning for being late this morning. It wasn't like it was Anna's fault. As soon as she had gotten home, she had had a lot of homework that she wanted to get done. She hadn't finished the paper until 11:00 pm. Of course, it hadn't been due for another week but she'd rather finish it and get it out of the way. After that, she had had trouble getting to sleep and even when she had been able to drift off, all she could see was war. It was as if she were looking through the eyes of a soldier.

She shook her head and cued in back to the inspection.

Finally, Ian stood up.

"I'll be see you guys in a month or so. And Anna," he started. She hopefully looked up to him. She had hoped he had figured it out for himself. Maybe he would agree to talk to Klegghorn about it and get her out of this mess. "be more careful. You're hurting yourself more and more every time I see you." he said, smiling. She forced a smile back.

"I'll try, Ian. Thanks. See ya." she said as Selena shut the door.

It'd been five months since she'd been living with Selena. It was hard being a teenager in foster care. She'd known Jake since before though.

They had been best friends since kindergarten, and he had been there when her parents passed away. First to go was her father when she was six. Then, her mother passed away when she was almost eleven. The hardest death she had had to deal with was that of her brother when she was fourteen. She ruled the streets as a thief after that until Klegghorn finally caught up with her. He had pitied her, however, and realized she'd been through a lot. He offered her foster care over juvi. Any problems in foster care, and juvi was the only answer. She'd have a record. Selena seemed nice enough the first few days, and she found herself reunited with Jake. It soon became clear that Selena had addictions and half the time used Anna as a punching bag. She was too afraid to tell Klegghorn so she took it. Thank god for Jake... speaking of which.

Anna realized she'd been standing in the hall for a while, so she turned her feet towards the stairs.

"Where are you going honey?" Selena asked sincerely.

"You can cut the act." Anna muttered, "now you can go ahead and crack a bottle, light up your joint and I'll do what I want." Anna shot at her.

Selena got pissed off at this remark.

"I cleaned all god damn day for you and-"

"The hell you did! You did it for your own god damn self!" Anna shouted back.

"You don't know what I do!" Selena raised her voice, moving threateningly towards her. Anna didn't notice.

"You sit on the couch, you smoke your weed, you drink your beer, you sniff whatever shit you have, and you inject yourself with needles. Every once a month or so, you spiffy up the place and act like some caring mother figure." Anna sassed. "and once a month I spend a couple of hours acting like you're the best replacement for a mom ever. I've got news for you, Selena. Lindsay Lohan could do a better job at being a mom than you!" she challenged.

"Take that back!" Selena demanded, hovering over her.

"Make me!" Anna yelled. Before she realized it, Selena's hand came hard, contacting with her left cheek. She was thrown back by the force against the stairs. She hit her back hard against the steps, but she was too enraged to care at the moment.

"Take it back!" Selena screamed again.

"No!" Anna spat. Selena's arm came down again, knocking her back against the stairs.

"I told you to take it back!" Selena demanded.

"Uh huh. I ain't taking back the truth!" Anna challenged. If Jake were there now, he'd be telling her to shut up. But she was too angry with Selena. Too determined not to lose this fight.

Selena grabbed her by the shirt and threw her across the floor towards the front door. Her anger got the best of her and she kicked Anna in the abdominal area. Anna's breath came short, her ribs aching from the blow that had knocked the wind out of her.

"I said take it back, you little slut!" Selena demanded_. _

_Damn, I sure can find her weak spot for madness. _Anna thought. She kept going. She wasn't going down without a fight.

"You're way worse than Lindsay Lohan could ever be." Anna managed, weakness evident in her voice. Selena punched her again twice before hurling her foot towards her again. Anna made an attempt to stop her, but Selena tossed her arms aside.

"Now, you ready to say I'm the best mother ever?" Selena asked, smirking at the pain written on Anna's face.

"Go to hell." Anna spat as blood dripped from her nose and lips onto the carpet.

"You got blood on my carpet! I just vacuumed that!" Selena screamed enraged, moving her foot to kick Anna again.

Anna felt something crack as she tasted more blood form in her mouth. Selena would do so much damage, Jake's fears might be made true.

Anna curled herself around her body. Suddenly, something came to her eye. Just to the right from where she lay sat the carpet cleaner. Before Selena could see what Anna was up to, she grabbed the cleaner, ripped the lid off and threw it at Selena. Powdered cleaner exploded in Selena's face and eyes.

Selena let out a scream as she ran to the kitchen the wash it out of her eyes. Anna saw her chance. She tried to stand, but weakness overtook her and she ended up flopping a little closer to the door. She gritted her teeth, fighting the pain and making her way to the door. Before Selena could return, she was out the door, running down the street for Jake's house.

"Maybe he's right about the toothbrush." she muttered to herself as she ran. She stopped by an alleyway once she figured she was far enough away. She coughed, blood coming out of her mouth.

"That's not good." she commented to herself. Suddenly, a noise was heard next to her in the alley.

"Hello?" she asked. Nothing answered as she bravely walked further in. A cat yowled above her and before she knew it a sheet landed on her head. She felt as if something had an arm around her before seeing a flash of green. She kicked and screamed before getting the sheet off. She ran out of the alley, never looking back. She ran into something hard that threw her onto the ground.

"Sorry." she muttered, not really looking at whoever she had ran into.

"No, it's fine. My fault." came the reply before a hand was offered. She took it, not really looking at it. She was surprised to feel softness on the hand, almost like feathers. She looked up to the man she'd ran into only... it wasn't a man.

Her eyes went wide as a squeak escaped her. His eyes were just as wide.

"What are you?" he asked, his hand dropping from hers once she was standing.

"What do you mean what am I? What are you!" she demanded.

"I'm a duck." he said calmly.

"Where the hell am I!" she demanded again, suddenly frightened for her life.

"You're in Cylton on the planet Puckworld." he explained. Her eyes trailed around her surroundings. Ducks walked or skated here and there. She realized it was cold here, even though it looked to be summer. Her arms encircled her as she involuntarily shivered.

Some of the ducks were staring at her, eyes wide. Not sure whether to call her friend or foe.

"Here." said the light brown duck, removing his jacket and wrapping it around her.

"Thanks." she muttered, accepting the jacket.

"You look like you went through hell." he commented. She realized her eye must still be black. Hell, who knows. Selena might have blackened it more.

"You have no idea." she muttered.

"Here, come with me." he offered, wrapping an arm around her and taking one of her hands with the other hand, guiding her down the street.

"Alright people, show's over! Nothing to see here!" he snapped at the ducks who had gathered around to look at her.

"What are you?" he asked, making conversation as he guided her along the street.

"I'm a human, from the planet Earth." she explained.

"There a name that goes with that identification?" he asked.

"I'm Anna." she introduced, her voice getting weaker with every word she spoke.

"Canard." came his reply before guiding her up the steps to a house.

"Canard, what are you doing here?" A female duck had come into view, but Anna was too dizzy to even try to figure out what her name was.

"Sorry mom, she's hurt. My apartment was too far." he explained as he released Anna onto the couch. She tried to stay sitting up, but he gently pressed on her forcing her to lay down.

"Canard! What did I say about bringing pets home?" came a stern voice.

"Funny, dad. Now help me! Before she loses consciousness." Canard rushed. Before he could say more, Anna's eyes closed and everything went black.


	2. Welcome to Puckworld

Anna's eyes creaked open. Her nose felt funny, and it took a moment to realize an oxygen tube was attached, helping her breathe. Her body ached all over and a bright light shone in her eyes from over head. At first she thought maybe she was dead, until her eyes adjusted.

She realized she was in some sort of hospital room. The window showing the outside was very different from home, though Sky scrapers stood here and there. She sat up in bed and felt a tug in her arm. An Iv was in it. She rolled her eyes.

"You're up." came a voice at the door. She looked over at the door to see the same light brown feathered duck standing in the doorway, a shoulder resting against the door frame. So she hadn't been dreaming.

"I am." she said, matter of fact. "what happened?"

"That's what we'd like to know." said another duck, walking in the room. His feathers were white, his eyes icy blue.

"I'm doctor Flashblade and frankly, your injuries appeared to be extended over long periods of time. What happened to you?" he asked, almost in a demanding way.

"My foster mother isn't exactly the rainbows and butterflies type." she explained briefly, letting her gaze fall.

"your foster mother did this much damage to you?" he sounded surprised. She only nodded.

"Whatever reason you ended up on our planet for, I'm glad you did. I was able to fix you up and stop the internal bleeding." he explained.

"Dr. Flashblade saved your life." Canard added.

"Well, I don't know about that." he muttered with humility. "Just happy to help." he explained.

"How long have I been here?" she asked, the question suddenly occurring to her.

"In the hospital? About two days." Canard briefed.

"Is she awake?" another voice was heard just outside the door and Anna was beginning to feel overwhelmed with ducks.

The owner of the voice entered the door, carrying himself pridefully and the way the other two reacted to his presence, it was obvious he was a duck of power wherever she was.

"How did you get here?" he asked her.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think he brought me here." she said, pointing to the light brown feathered duck. She couldn't remember his name at the moment.

"Not the hospital, I meant this planet." he asked patiently.

"Not sure about that either. I was on my planet then *poof!*, I'm here. I'm still slightly convinced this is all just a dream." she admitted.

"Trust me, it's all too real." said the strange duck.

"Who are you anyways?" she asked.

"I'm Governor Schwarzenegger." he introduced, offering his hand. She laughed before taking his hand.

"Anna." she said between a chuckle as she shook his hand. He looked almost offended.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"It's just, there's an actor on my planet named Schwarzenegger. I guess it's more of a common name than I thought, even here." she said, giggling.

"I'm an actor also." the governor muttered, shocked. He moved away from the subject with a shake of his head.

"Anyway, would you like to tell me the moments up to the point where you ended up here?" he asked her, attempting to change the subject.

"Well, I was running to my friend's house. I stopped at an alley to catch my breath and heard a sound. A cat yowled, a sheet fell on my head. I threw off the sheet, ran out, and before I knew it, I ran into him." she pointed to the duck. Why couldn't she remember his name?

"Canard, anything unusual from your point of view?" the governor asked, turning his attention to the duck. _Canard! That's his name! _Anna thought.

"Other than a human running at me, no." he said, almost with a humorous tone to his voice.

"Well, this is odd. However, I don't see you being a threat. How old are you?" he asked, turning his attention back to the girl.

"Sixteen, why?" she asked.

"We'll clear you as a citizen of Puckworld after you learn a bit. Then, you'll be enrolled into school." said the governor matter of factly.

"Whoa, whoa. what about my home? my best friend?" Anna asked, cutting him off.

"Look, until we figure out how you got here, we can't very well send you back, can we?" he challenged.

"Yeah, I guess not." she agreed, sighing.

"Then it's settled. First things first, I'm afraid while you're learning about our history, you'll be put into foster car." her eyes widened at this.

"How often do you make inspections and are they surprise inspections?" she asked quickly.

"Well, yeah. Of course. We don't want them putting on an act. We want to see them on an average day." he informed.

Anna sighed out, "I wish my planet was that smart." she muttered.

"Sir, wait. What if she came to stay with me?" Canard offered.

The governor and Anna both looked at him, shock evident on their faces. The doctor turned his attention to Canard.

"That's a big responsibility, Canard." Flashblade warned.

"Trust me, I'm ready." Canard insisted.

"I actually like this idea." the governor agreed, "this way she's with a duck she already knows. It's settled." he began making plans immediately, "there'll be an inspection of your place this afternoon." the president warned.

"Sir, if I may, I have a better idea." Flashblade spoke up.

"Go on." the governor said.

"Why not talk to the Thunderbeaks? They have a couple of spare bedrooms, especially since Canard moved out. I'm sure they'd love to have another kid in the house. This way Canard can visit whenever he wants to check in on her but won't have to worry about raising a teenager after he's just finished being a teenager himself." Flashblade explained.

"Excellent suggestion, Bill." the governor said, his head turning back to Anna.

"Are you okay with this arrangement?" he asked. She only nodded. She hated these kind of discussions.

"Then it's settled. Canard, what are your parents' number?"

* * *

Not even three hours later, Canard walked back into the hospital room.

"I'm surprised they're letting you leave so soon. Probably because the doc can check up on you from my parents house." he muttered, handing Anna the pair of sweats and sweatshirt he had grabbed when he went home to his apartment. She took them gratefully.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, my best friend is the doctor's son." Canard briefed as she walked into the bathroom. She walked out, the sweats and sweatshirt baggy around her body. He stifled a laugh.

"You remind me of Carmen." he said, smiling.

"Who's that?" she asked suddenly. His smile disappeared.

"Ah, no one. Let's go." he said, leading her out the door.

Canard's sleek black toff stopped outside the nice green house. A toff was a brand of car on Puckworld, short for "top-off", almost like a convertible except the top was hardly ever taken off given the weather on Puckworld. Once, every once in a while on a good day, the ducks might take the cover off and cruise around with the wind blowing around their feathers. Because of the weather, it was actually one of the cheaper vehicles to own on Puckworld.

"I'm going over to Wing's for a bit. Mama will show you around. I'll see ya later." he said, pulling away from the curb once she got out.

When she knocked on the door, she saw a familiar face, though the last time she had seen this duck she had nearly been unconscious.

"Good to see you again." she welcomed the young girl into her home and began giving her the grand tour.

Soon, they found themselves upstairs.

"This is the bathroom here." she said, pointing as Anna followed her. "and, here's the guest room..." Mrs. Thunderbeak suddenly stopped at the room before moving on. For a guest room, it was rather teenage girlish.

"And, here's Canard's old room." she said, flipping on the light.

The sheets were white on a bare bed. The dresser had one drawer askew from the rest of them. A few old pictures hung here and there along with a few posters of hockey teams Canard must have liked. Hockey here was like football where Anna came from.

"You can have your choice of his old room or the guest bedroom." Mrs. Thunderbeak offered.

"It's a little weird thinking Canard used to sleep in here." Anna admitted.

"no problem dear. I thought you might like the other room. There are some clothes in the dresser that might fit you." she offered, leading her back down the hall.

The wall in this room was painted a sky blue. The white dresser was neat and tidy and, while Canard's bed had been bare except for the white sheets, this room had a blue comforter with two dark blue pillows. On the white dresser sat old family photos. In the older pictures, Anna noticed another female present.

"Who's that?" she asked curiously, pointing.

"That's Carmen, Canard's younger sister." Mrs. Thunderbeak said, hardly even glancing at the picture.

"Younger sister?" Anna asked, glancing back at the picture.

"She passed away two years ago. She would be your age right now if..." Mrs. Thunderbeak trailed off, looking away.

"Thanks for letting me stay here, Mrs. Thunderbeak." Anna said, changing the subject.

"Please, call me Crystal or Crys." she insisted.

"Well, thanks." Anna repeated.

"Well, I'll let you get settled. I'm sure you'd like to go through Carmen's old things to see if anything fits." Crystal said.

"If you don't feel comfortable with me wearing her clothes, I'll get a job and buy new clothes." Anna offered.

"Oh dear, they're not getting used anyway. If I didn't want you to wear them, I'd take you shopping myself." Crystal insisted before walking out.

Two hours later, Anna was settled in. Every single piece of clothing Carmen had had fit her, aside from two pairs of pants that were just a tad tight around the waist. She heard the door open downstairs, followed by a voice.

"Hey Ma, where's Anna?" she heard Canard's voice.

"She's upstairs in her new room." she heard Crystal say.

"Thanks." Canard's voice came again before she heard steps coming up the stairs.

Anna continued her work of refolding the clothes she had gone through, even when he appeared in the doorway.

"That was her favorite shirt too." Canard commented on the clothes Anna had decided on.

It was a blue shirt with the sleeves ending at the elbows. Two doves carried a ribbon on the front, their beaks touching.

"Here's your sweatshirt and sweats back." she said, holding them out for him. He held up a hand.

"You can keep them. With no feathers, you'll probably need em more than I will." he joked.

"Funny." she said, partly amused. "so, what's up?" she asked him.

"I was going to take you into town. Show you the sights." he offered.

"That actually sounds like a good idea." she agreed, "would probably help with my test of citizenship."

With that, Canard and Anna left the house.


	3. Becoming a citizen

The day eventually found Canard and Anna at the RC, or Retail Complex. Locals called it the RC for short. It was pretty much exactly like a mall back on earth.

Canard paid the employee of the "delicious chill", pretty much the equivalent to a tasty freeze on earth, and turned around with two dishes with spoons in them.

"Here, this is called ice cream." he introduced the dish before handing it to her.

"Yeah, I know it. Believe it or not, Canard, I have the same thing on my planet." she said, taking the dish from him.

"Seriously? A planet warmer than Puckworld has ice cream?" he asked disbelieving.

she nodded. "Oh yeah, we have something like Stacey's too, except it's called Macy's. She used a store they had visited earlier as an example.

She took a bite of the ice cream as he muttered, "weird." Her taste buds swam in the cream.

"hmm, this is different from the ice cream on my planet. I mean, it still tastes the same, it's just... I can't place it, but it's obviously different." she admitted.

"I think I understand." Canard said.

"You know, Puckworld is pretty much like earth except for the ducks everywhere and the temperature." she shuddered to exaggerate her point.

"You know, you landed in probably the warmest city on Puckworld." he chuckled.

"Are you serious?" she asked, hugging his sweatshirt around her.

"Oh yeah, during the summer it gets up to 50. Maybe even 60 if we're lucky." he said, guiding her back to the car.

"Are you serious? And that's warm to you?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why, what does it get up to where you live?" he asked.

"80s, 90s, even 100s sometimes during the summer." she said.

"I think I'd melt." he admitted, opening the door to the car.

"Yeah, I almost do every summer. That's why I'm glad the beach isn't too far away from where I live." she said, getting into the car.

"Beach?" he asked.

"Yeah, you know. Where there's a bunch of sand and then water as far as the eye can see?" she asked.

"Oh, like a littoral." he asked. She nodded.

He started the car, thinking to himself. "There's no littorals close to here, but there's a couple about 6 hours away. Some ducks actually ride the waves on the sea over there." he said thoughtfully.

"So you have surfing here?" she asked.

"Yeah, we do I suppose. They call it breaking." he said, "you know, cause they break the waves." he said matter of fact.

"yeah, that's a term some of the surfers back home use too." she explained as he pulled out of the parking lot of the RC.

They kept talking and comparing things for the rest of the ride until finally arriving back at the house.

* * *

The halls were dark and gloomy, almost musty. A throne sat in the middle of the great room, pointing toward several monitors.

"Lord Dragaunus." the chunky orange lizard walked forward, his voice strong but almost raspy sounding. The lizard on the throne turned to the other, his red complexion almost making his skin luminous. Blue robes fell around him as he turned around in the chair.

"What is it, Siege?" Dragaunus asked, a harsh tone to his voice.

A green shrimp of a lizard stood behind Siege. Siege moved aside, shoving the other one forward.

"He lost the girl." he said, stepping as far back from the green shrimp as possible.

Dragaunus' eyes glowed as he stood, his wrathful gaze fell upon the green lizard.

"Chameleon!" his voice came in a growl.

"It wasn't my fault boss, Siege fell on me when we teleported." he defended.

"If I may, my lord. This might be the opportunity you were hoping for." came a dismal voice from the corner. Another lizard came forward. He looked skeleton like, horns protruding out of his skull. His eyes were... black holes and he carried a staff with him that held a duck skull on top of it. His robes were purple that fell around him.

"What are you talking about, Wraith?" Dragaunus asked, his wrath turning to the other.

"Well, you wanted a sort of spy among the ducks, did you not?" Wraith asked.

"Well yes, but not her." Dragaunus admitted.

"Doesn't matter. She's already befriending Major Thunderbeak. My lord, your plan is already taking place whether or not you are aware." the Wraith informed.

Dragaunus rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes. Yes, she may still be of some use to me." he said, looking back up at the monitors.

* * *

Anna slipped once again on the ice. Canard skated over, chuckling.

"It's not funny, Can!" Anna growled at him.

"Oh yes, it is." he said, reaching out a hand and helping her up.

"Canard, it's nearly hopeless. I can't even skate." she muttered, rubbing her butt.

"It's been three months since you've even been on Puckworld. You can't exactly expect yourself to sprout feathers and automatically be able to do figure eights on the ice." he comforted.

"I know, I know. But it's so annoying. You come out here, you just skate so naturally and you can make a puck do anything you want it to." she said, frustration evident in her voice.

"Yes, but I've also been skating since I could walk. How long have you been skating?" he asked her.

"A couple of days." she admitted.

"Exactly. You'll get the hang of it." he promised.

"I hope so. I'm sick of slipping everywhere I step. It'd be so convenient if I could skate everywhere like everyone else." she muttered, breathing out and blowing a strand of her brown hair of her face.

"You'll get it." he promised again, guiding her along.

"I'm glad Wing and Dive aren't here. This is difficult enough as it is without Nosedive's commentary." she muttered, mentioning Canard's best friend and his little brother.

"Yeah, that's why I decided better on calling him. I wanted you to focus on learning, and not caring about what others thought about how you were doing." Canard admitted.

He soon went faster, and faster. He let go of her hand and sent her along.

"Now guide yourself along, one foot in front of the other, just like walking." he guided from behind her. She started doing what he said, going as fast as she could.

"Wait, Anna!" he called and she looked up, seeing she was headed for a building that was beside the rink they were at.

"Canard, I can't stop!" she called behind her, suddenly off balance on her skates.

"Try to brake!" he called, skating faster after her.

"These things have brakes?!" she exclaimed before her body smacked against the side of the building. She fell down onto the ice.

"Anna! Anna, are you ok?" he asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Canard? Why do you have two heads?" she asked, her vision blurry.

"Come on." he said, lifting her up and putting her arm around his shoulders. "Let's go home." he said, with the hint of a chuckle to his voice.

Anna felt around her nose, realizing a little bit of blood was coming out.

"I think I broke my nose." she muttered, rubbing it gently.

"Just be lucky you don't have a beak." he chuckled as they got to the car.

* * *

Canard sat impatiently next to his mom and dad as they all waited for Anna to get out of the room. It was quiet in the court house, too quiet.

"Somethings wrong. She's stuck on a question!" Canard exclaimed next to his parents.

"She's doing fine." Crystal insisted, though she squeezed her husband's hand with uncertainty.

Canard planted both hands on his face, rubbing them down in frustration.

"Son, there's nothing you can do anyways. It's all up to her." his father insisted.

"I need some air, that's all. You're right, she'll do fine. I just need to mellow out." Canard admitted, standing and walking out.

"Harry, I've been doing some thinking." Crystal said once Canard was gone.

"What's that honey?" he asked, glancing down at his wife.

"I know that she's not Carmen, but I can't help but feel an urge to adopt that little girl in there." Crystal said. "I feel like she's part of the family now, and the fact that Carmen would be the same age as her right now... I just feel..." Crystal trailed off.

"Crys, you don't have to say anymore." her husband comforted beside her, "I couldn't agree with you more. I see Carmen in that girl, and the way she looks up to Canard as a big brother is the same way Carmen used to look at him. Crys, if she passes, we'll sign for adoption." he promised.

"Cross your heart?" she asked.

"Cross my heart." he promised, crossing his index finger over his heart and raising his hand. She leaned against his shoulder, waiting for the test to be over.

Ten minutes passed before the doors opened.

Anna walked out, a smile on her face.

"I'm guessing you passed." Crys said, standing up.

Anna nodded, "Oh yeah." she said, holding up a card. It had her picture on it, along with all her information making her an official citizen of not only Puckworld, but the city of Cylton.

"Oh, Canard will be so happy." Crystal said, sighing out.

"Where'd he go anyways?" Anna asked.

"He was having a melt down as to how well you would do, so he went for a walk." Crystal explained.

"We're proud of you sweetie." Harry said, smiling down at her. She smiled back as he hugged her.

"Thanks Harry." she said, almost wanting to call him dad when she hugged him.

"I'm guessing you passed." Canard said, walking up behind her.

"Cannie!" she said, jumping into his arms before jumping out and showing him the picture i.d.

"Good job, sis." Canard said, giving her a high five.

"I'm glad they'd taken a picture of me shortly after I got here. I wouldn't want a broken nose to be the picture everyone knows me as." she laughed and Canard lowered his head.

"Sorry about that, Annie." he said, putting his thumb over her nose gently. Two black eyes had formed around the nose.

"Hey, it's fine. I should have figured it out." she muttered, good humored about the whole situation.

"So, shall we go spread the news?" Canard asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh yeah, let's go show the boys!" Anna exclaimed, and she didn't even need to say their names for Canard to know she was talking about the Flashblade brothers.


	4. It's a wonderful life

Nosedive sat down excitedly beside Anna, handing her the cup of tea she had requested when asked if she wanted anything.

"Good job, Annie!" he said, passing the mug to her.

"Thanks, Dive." she said, taking a sip before continuing.

"You should probably also know, I start school monday." she added.

"What grade?" Wildwing asked, sitting down in the recliner across from the couch that Nosedive and Anna were sitting at. Canard sat in the love seat by himself between the recliner and couch.

"They're starting me as a senior." she said.

"How old are you again?" Nosedive asked her, narrowing his eyes at her playfully.

"I'm sixteen, a sophomore by earth's ruling." she explained.

"Oh, well then you'd be a junior here anyways." he shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"I'm seventeen now, and I'm a senior. Are you sure you were supposed to be a sophomore on earth?" he asked her curiously.

"Well, I should be. I mean, I was fifteen at the start of the year. I just turned sixteen like a few weeks ago." she explained a little further. He nodded in understanding.

"Wait, you didn't tell us it was your birthday." Canard said, almost with a hurt tone to his voice.

"I didn't think it was important at the time." she shrugged.

"So, when's your birthday then?" he asked her.

"November the 5th." she said.

"I'm sure glad our months are the same as on earth, or it would be so much harder to figure out her birthday." Canard muttered to Wildwing before turning his attention back to Anna, "We'll have a small celebration when we get back to the house." he said matter of fact.

"But Can, that was like a month ago. I'm fine, really. I wasn't expecting much for my birthday to begin with." her head hung a little at the last line.

"Annie, you ok?" he asked her gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just glad I'm not on earth anymore." she finally decided, though he could see sadness lingering in her eyes.

"Well, don't worry about it Annie. You'll start school on Monday and we'll have a blast!" Nosedive promised, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a gentle noogie. She laughed lightly before shoving him over on the ground off of the couch.

"Sure, Dive. A blast." she muttered, still on the couch looking down on him. He jumped back up and sat back down next to her.

"You know, Can. It wouldn't be such a crime to miss my birthday. I mean, what with Christmas coming up and all." she insisted, not really wanting to celebrate her birth.

He finally seemed to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." he decided. "We best be getting home. Mom will have supper on the table." he said, glancing at his watch.

"Yeah, ok. See ya at school, Dive." she said, standing up. He stayed sitting but waved his goodbye.

"Later Annie." he said, grabbing the remote and not hesitating to switch on the TV.

"See ya Wing." she said to Dive's older brother.

"Yup. Congrats Ann." he said, not forgetting the real reason they had come over for a visit.

* * *

Anna had gone upstairs when it had been announced that dinner would be another twenty minutes or so. Canard had sensed the whole way home that she wasn't entirely happy. It couldn't be the birthday thing. It was almost like she was thinking about her life on earth. It suddenly dawned on him that all he had heard was the abuse part of her life. There must have been some people who loved her that she had to leave behind. He shook his head as he helped his mother set the table.

"Canard honey?" he looked up at his mother's voice. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Oh nothing, mama. Just thinking about Annie." he said simply.

"Is she okay?" she asked, glancing at the stairs.

"yeah, I think so. She just doesn't seem all that happy. I think there's more she left on earth than what she's telling us." he said, "that and we missed her birthday." he added quickly.

"Oh my, we have to have a celebration now."

"Ma, she doesn't want a celebration. She said Christmas would be enough for her." he explained.

"You sure?" she asked him.

"Yes, Ma. I'm sure." he insisted.

"Well, I think your father and I have something that could count as a birthday present for her." she finally said after a moment of silence.

"Ma, what are you planning?" he asked her, arching an eyebrow at her. She couldn't hide the smile.

"Don't tell her before we can, but your father and I are planning an adoption. We'll announce it at dinner." she said in a hushed whisper. Canard smiled at this.

"You know what, Ma. I think this is exactly what she needs. Especially after everything she's been through." he agreed as he set the last plate on the table. "I'll go get her." he offered, running up the stairs.

"Anna?" he asked, coming to stand outside her door. He knocked with no answer. "Anna, dinner's ready." he called again. Still no answer. His expression changed from excitement to worry as he opened to the door slowly.

He opened to the door to see Anna, laying on her bed. He came to sit on the bed beside her. She wasn't sleeping, she was staring off into space, tears evident on her face.

"Annie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I feel homesick, Can. I don't know why, I was so sick of Selena and her messed up abuse. So why do I miss earth?" she asked him, looking up at him.

"The warmth?" he said, resting a hand on her head, "The city you grew up in. You friends who actually cared about you. I know not everyone on earth treated you like Selena did." he added.

"I do miss Jake." she admitted.

"Who was Jake?" he asked comfortingly.

"My best friend. He was always taking care of me. When Selena and I would have a fight before school, he'd clean me up. He sort of grew accustomed to carrying a first aid kit to school." she explained.

"I bet he misses you too, Annie." he said, pulling her against his chest into a hug, "but there's something I've learned." he said.

"What's that?" she asked him.

"It's sort of different from your situation, so I'll try to reword it. But, when things happen you've got to keep moving. You've got to take what life gives you and push on, no matter how rough or how hopeless it may seem." he said, and Anna looked up at him to see tears in his eyes. He was thinking about Cameron, and she knew he was.

"You're right, Can." she said, not wanting to see him cry anymore. "I might miss Jake, but I can't let that get in the way of... well, my new life. I ended up on a great planet with a great family who actually cares about my well being. You guys care about me and I couldn't have asked for a better place to end up." she said gratefully. He smiled down at her before kissing her forehead.

"Come on, Annie. Let's go down to supper." he said, standing up. He pulled her out of the bed and wrapped an arm around her as they walked down the stairs.

Soon, they were all seated around the table and were eating.

Anna noticed how quiet it was and looked up to see all of them smiling at her.

"Okay, what's going on?" she asked. Canard cleared his throat, realizing he had been smiling at her.

"Well, Anna. Me and Harry have been doing some thinking." Crystal started, intertwining her fingers.

"And we were wondering if, maybe you'd like to be adopted." she finally said, looking at Anna with hope evident on her face. Anna stopped, putting her fork down. She glanced around at all of their faces before finally, a smile spread across her face and she nodded.

"Yes, yes I would love that!" she finally said, looking as if she'd jump for joy out of her chair.

Things were finally looking up. She was getting adopted. She'd be starting school soon and best yet, she was in a whole other universe, never to return to earth again. Nothing could possibly go wrong! Or so she thought...


	5. Tragedy strikes

"Siege!" the orange shaded lizard looked up at his name being called ferociously from the throne above him.

"Yes, Lord Dragaunus?" he asked, setting down whatever tool he was using before hand.

"When can we strike! It's been months!" he growled impatiently.

"We're awaiting back up assistance from General Tyrant. He's preparing an armada to send our way." he explained.

"What's taking so long!" he growled, banging a fist on the arm of his throne, forcing Siege to recoil before straightening up again.

"He's in the process of building 100 airships for you, my lord." he explained.

"The kind that turn into destructive drones?" Dragaunus asked.

Siege only nodded, causing Dragaunus' skin to light up in happiness.

"Excellent. Perhaps it's worth the wait after all. What's the status on our girl?" he asked suddenly, turning his attention back to Siege.

"She's in the Thunderbeak home." Siege said, not sure exactly what Dragaunus wanted.

"Have you made an attempt to approach her?" Dragaunus asked suddenly. Siege looked taken aback.

"Why would I do that?" he asked.

"We want her on our side, Siege! Her father was the greatest General earth had ever seen. I've been planning this since the day of her birth! I need her for the conquest of this world!" Dragaunus sneered.

"Pardon me, my lord." Wraith stepped in from behind, "but do you really think it wise to go to the girl now?"

"Well, why not?" he snapped.

"I'm only saying, if it doesn't all go according to plan, she could run off and tell the ducks that a lizard approached her. The ducks would be prepared for your attack."

"But I need her trained. I need to prepare her for the take over. I can't wait til three days before the take over." he argued.

"But you can. You said so yourself. She's the daughter of the greatest general on earth, which might make her a fast learner. Further more, she's had some training on earth as you said before, my lord." Wraith insisted. Dragaunus seemed to think about this, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Leave me." he commanded, and the three stooges walked out. He looked back at the monitors, watching the four screens set up. The younger girl playing with a toy on the floor. Another screen showing the death of her older brother. He pondered these screens. It had actually been her older brother he had been waiting for, but after his death his attention turned to her. She was just as strong and skilled as her older brother and would do nicely. He slouched back down into his chair. What was he to do? He had to time the situation just right, or he could lose his general before he even got her.

* * *

Anna sat in a desk, her eyes eagerly searching over every slide that popped up on the board. It was history, so many of the students were bored with it. Anna, however, being new to the planet was fascinated by nearly every word he said.

"And that's what the saurian spaceships looked like." Mr. Fargerson said, his pointer stick going to the next picture that popped up. He glanced at his watch before walking over the projector and shutting it off before switching the lights on.

"Alright everybody, could be a pop quiz tomorrow, could not be a pop quiz tomorrow. You've been warned." he said before sitting down at his desk.

Anna stood up from her desk, tossing her notebook into her shoulder bag before swinging it onto her shoulder. It was nice having history as the last class of the day.

"Annie, yo wait up!" Dive said, running to catch up with her.

"Hey Dive." she said, smiling as she walked towards the Superior Mama Thunderbeak had bought her as a "belated" birthday present, she had called it. It was more than enough for Anna. And here, it hadn't taken much for her to pass the test to get a license. It had been nearly a month since she'd been adopted now.

The superior was a Sharent make, which was pretty much the equivalent to Chevrolet on earth. Even had the same symbol. So a Sharent Superior was pretty much a Chevy Cavalier when compared to earth cars.

She opened the door to the little red car and glanced back up to see Nosedive, still smiling at her.

"Need a ride?" she offered. He nodded, still smiling.

"But of course, if you're offering." he said grinning. She rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Come on then." she said, causing him to open the door to the passenger side. They didn't go right home, however.

"Annie, where we going?" Dive asked when she didn't turn onto his street.

"The RC." she said, grinning while she said it. He rolled his eyes playfully.

"Man, won't Wing be upset when he learns of this." Dive said metaphorically.

"He doesn't need to know." Anna said, smiling as she flipped on her signal and pulled into a parking place at the RC.

Anna and Dive wandered the mall, talking about one thing or the next. It's not like they had money to spend, so they pretty much browsed the mall wishing and hoping for things that sat in the windows, taunting them.

Finally, they found their way back to the car. They both held smoothies in their hands, because that was pretty much all they could afford. Anna's was a triple berry smoothie while Dive's was a banana smoothie.

"So, why would you care what Wing thought of you not getting home right away to do homework?" she asked him once they were in the car. "Wouldn't you be more worried about your dad?" she asked. Dive kinda spun the smoothie around in his hand.

"Dad's not really home all that much, being a doctor and all. And when he is, he's too busy to even care if I'm upstairs doing my homework. It's Wing that takes it upon himself to force homework down my throat." Dive explained as they pulled out of the parking lot.

Anna turned on the radio when the silence became too much for her. Not three blocks later, flashing lights blocked their path home.

"oh, now Wildwing's really gonna have my ass." Dive muttered, noting the flashing green and yellow lights that showed there was either a drug bust or a wreck.

"Don't worry about it. I'll handle Wing. It was all my idea to hit the RC after school. Besides, it's a Friday. What can he do? You have all weekend to do homework." she insisted.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll definitely use that argument on him." Dive said, smiling.

Finally, traffic was moving slowly. A wreck had taken place, from what they could see. Two blue cars were involved, and as they drove slowly past, Nosedive's eyes went wide.

"Stop the car." he said suddenly.

"But Dive, I'm in the middle of the road." she said uncertain of his reasoning.

"I said stop the car." he demanded, and she did as he said. Of course, she got the blaring car horns behind her, but her focus was on the duck that burst from her car.

She quickly proceeded in the line of cars after he exited the vehicle until she could find a spot to pull over.

Nosedive made his way to the police line.

"Young man, I'm going to need you to stand back." said one of the officers at the scene.

"No, wait." Dive said, his eyes never leaving the blue platinum. Another Sharent made vehicle.

"Dive?" his attention turned from the car to the sound of his brother's voice. "Let him past. That's my brother." Wing said, coming to stand beside the officer. Dive instantly fell into his brother's arms, not wanting to hear what he knew to be true. Wing's tear streaked face told all.

"Wing, is he?" he asked finally, a few tears escaping his own brown eyes. Wing just nodded before gripping his brother tighter.

"Nosedive." Anna came running under the yellow tape. Three officers stopped her dead in her track.

"Let me past!" she screamed at them. One of them looked at Wildwing, who only nodded letting them know she was a friend. They broke their line and she ran over to the brothers.

"What's going on?" she asked hurriedly.

"Dad's... dad was in a head-on collision." Wildwing forced, tears forming in his eyes again. "He didn't make it." he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut as if wishing he would just wake up from this nightmare.

"Wing, I-" Anna didn't have any words. Tears stung her eyes as she turned away from the brothers. Her head lowered. How could he be gone? Her doctor? The duck that saved her life... was gone.

She fell to her knees, tears running down her face as she looked back at the wreckage. Nobody could have survived that.

She felt comforting arms fall around her shoulders and realized Dive was kneeling over her, crying against her shoulder. Wing joined them, taking her other side.

"I know... I know how you guys feel." she said through a couple of sobs.

Wing's arms seemed to wrap tighter around her when she said that. "I'm sorry, I-" Anna had no words. "He's..." she couldn't speak, she couldn't do anything.

Thunder rolled and soon, the rain fell around them.

"Come on, this isn't where we need to be." Wing finally said. Anna nodded. Dive only stared into space.

"Anna, you're welcome to come over to the house if you want. I know I want Canard there." Wing offered, wrapping his jacket around Dive's shoulders. Dive didn't even look at Anna as he walked off towards Wing's car. Anna nodded at his offer, walking back over to her car. She got in, put the keys in but didn't start it.

She rested her head on the steering wheel and let the tears flow. She cried over the loss of her parents, her brother and now her best friend's father. She questioned why it happened. Why she was even here. Finally, she brushed her hair out of her face and turned the key in the ignition, starting the car. She breathed slowly to calm herself down before turning on the radio and pulling away from the curb. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the house phone.

"Mama?" she said when Crystal answered.

"Baby girl, we were just getting worried. Where are you?" Crystal asked.

"I'm going over to Dive's for a while." was all she said, her voice cracking.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, able to tell something was bothering her.

"Bill Flashblade was in an accident. He didn't make it." she said, tears forming in her eyes again.

"Oh honey. You go on and go over to Dive's. He'll need you now more than ever." Crystal said with understanding.

"I'll see you tonight." Anna promised.

"alright dearest. Goodbye." Crystal said.

"Bye mama." she said, hanging up the phone. She pulled up outside the Flashblade home.

Canard was already sitting there when she dragged herself inside. He stood up at the sight of his baby sister and pulled her into a hug. She accepted it, hugging him back as tight as she could. They both sat down in the loveseat.

"I don't know what we're gonna do." Wing muttered. Nosedive only sat on his side, staring at the floor. Anna was scared. She had never seen the teenager this quiet before.

"You can move in with me." Canard offered.

"Both of us?" Wing asked, "I don't think so. I'm not going to impose on you." Wing said.

"But Wing..." Canard tried.

"Look, Can. Dad has some money in savings and I have a steady job now. I'm making Twelve Ducaines an hour. I think I can make it on my own." Wing promised. "I just don't want to." he muttered, looking down.

Canard looked defeated.

"Wing, I'm sorry this happened." Canard finally said.

"Canard, don't..." Wing trailed off.

"Wing, there's not much I can say. He was the greatest doctor I had the privilege of knowing. He was my second father. There's no telling why this tragedy occurred. We don't choose the amount of time that we have. All we can decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. He was a brilliant drake right to the very end. Loving and caring. He was taken from this world so suddenly, just as Carmen was. It's not fair, none of it is. We never know when it'll happen. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life." Canard muttered, placing a hand on his face and leaning on it.

"Canard?" Anna muttered, looking up at him. He looked down at her, wrapping his arms around her. Brother and sister sat in a hug for the longest time.

Finally, Nosedive stood up.

"I need to get some sleep." he muttered before turning towards the stairs. The trio watched as the young drake dragged himself towards the stairs.

"Divey." Anna muttered, sorrow in her voice.

"He'll be fine, Anna." Wing promised, seeing the look on her face. Finally, Canard stood up.

"I suppose we should be going. Wouldn't want to impose on you any longer." he muttered.

"Can, wait. You suppose you could stay the night?" Wing asked. Canard nodded, almost as if he had been hoping Wing would ask him.

"of course I will." he promised. Anna left Canard's side and made her way to Wing, giving him a huge hug. He returned the hug, making it just as huge.

"I'm so sorry Wing." she whispered in his ear. His response was just to squeeze tighter.

"Have a good night, Annie." he wished before she walked out the door.

Once she was gone, Canard grabbed some blankets from the hall closet where he knew they would be.

Wing sat in the chair while Canard covered up before flipping on the TV, hoping for anything to get their minds off the events of the day.


	6. Why is this happening to us

_3 months later _

Anna sat in Mr. Fargerson's class, Nosedive in the desk beside her. The sun shone through the window, and she loved that it was getting warmer. Spring was on the horizon, even though it was a cold planet.

The bell rang and Mr. Fargerson dismissed them.

"Annie, you got plans?" Nosedive asked her.

"Nope, none." she said, smiling at him. He smiled after her before falling into step beside her and heading for the red superior outside.

It still felt weird, and she could tell he still felt guilty over the death of his father. Not because he felt it was his fault, but because he never really took the time to really get to know his father. He was never really home, and Nosedive never really took it upon himself to try to spend time with his father. Wildwing was definitely taking the death of their father harder. He had seen so much more pain in the family. Nosedive had never even gotten the chance to know their mother.

She shook her head at the thought as they both got into the superior.

"Movies at my house?" she suggested, starting the car. He smiled and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." he said, turning on the stereo.

Soon, the drake and human were at the Thunderbeak home. The house was quiet, and Anna found a note on the counter.

"Gone to dinner and a show. Don't wait up for us. Love, Mom and Dad." she read aloud when Dive had a questioning look on his face.

"So what movie we watching Annie?" Nosedive asked, walking into the kitchen and reaching into the "snacks" cupboard. He pulled out a couple of bags of popcorn, popping one into the microwave.

"I think dad has that movie that came out last May. Jurassic Park? I don't know. I haven't seen it." she admitted.

"Well, me neither." Nosedive lied. "We could watch that." he agreed as the popcorn started popping. She smiled, heading for the couch. She grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV.

She went to the list of shows recorded and clicked on Jurassic Park. Nosedive, in the meantime, finished the popcorn and poured both bags into a bowl. He grabbed two colas from the fridge, knowing he and Anna were allowed to them (having been given permission the last time) and sat down on the couch beside her, the bowl between them. She smiled at him before pressing the play button and settling in.

At some point during the movie, Dive quoted a line.

"Never seen it, huh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"So it was once a long time ago." he shrugged it off.

"uh huh." she muttered, leaning back against the couch and resting her eyes back on the TV.

By the time the movie ended, Anna had let her eyes grow heavy, her head resting against Nosedive's shoulder. Nosedive reached around her, grabbing the remote and flipping the TV back to normal. He looked down at her, loving the feeling of her weight against his side.

Anna woke up in the middle of a commercial that came on loud.

"Sorry." Nosedive muttered, when she popped her head up and looked at him.

"It's alright." she yawned, glancing back at the TV. "They gotta make money somehow. Might as well make the advertisement loud." she muttered, standing up and grabbing the bowl along with the two empty pop cans.

As she was crossing back to the couch from the kitchen, the front door burst open and Canard rushed forward, his arms wrapping around her instantly.

"Canard?" she asked.

"I thought I lost you." he practically sobbed.

"Canard, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"It's... mom and dad. I got the call about fifteen minutes ago. I had to make sure you weren't with them." he said, wrapping his arms around her again.

"What are you going on about? Where are mom and dad?" she asked him, trying to form some sense of his words.

"I'm not sure. The officer said 5th and Blaine."

"Officer?" she asked him unsure.

"I don't know what happened Anna. I came home for you before I went over there." he said, his gaze suddenly falling on Dive who had come to stand behind her.

"Let's go." she said, running out the door with Canard. Nosedive followed after them, having no other way home.

Lights flashed up ahead and Anna got the strange feeling of dejavu as they pulled over to the side of the road.

"Stay here." Canard commanded, opening the door and getting out.

Anna gasped at the command before unbuckling and getting out.

"Excuse me, Anna. But didn't he just say stay here?" Dive said as he got out of the backseat running right behind her.

Anna caught up to Canard at the police line. He turned around and grabbed her, making sure to bury her face into his chest.

"No Anna, don't." he said, a sob evident in his voice. Nosedive ran up behind her and locked eyes with Canard. He had never seen the drake so distraught. His eyes trailed behind him to the alleyway. two body bags lay in the alley and it was evident that they contained something.

"Oh no." Dive said, unable to contain himself.

Anna fought against Canard. He finally released her, and she shoved around him, her eyes locking on the body bags.

"No." she gasped. "not again." her knees buckled and she fell but Canard caught her. She turned around in his arms and buried her head back into his chest.

Nobody will ever know how long she stayed like that, buried deep into her brother's arms, yet again.

Memories flashed of before, when her first set of parents died. She swore she'd never get attached to anyone like that again. Yet, here she was, standing over the bodies of her second set of parents. How did this happen. Sadness was clouded by anger as she pulled away from Canard.

"Anna?" she questioned, letting go of her arms but following after her. She stormed up to an officer. He had brown eyes, and black feathers.

"who did this!" she demanded, pointing back to the alleyway.

"Calm down, miss." he asked of her.

"Don't tell me to calm down. I just lost two parents in one night. You better give me something!" she growled at him and he recoiled back.

"I'm sorry, miss. But until we know more, I can't tell you anything for certain."

"Tell, me Officer..." she glanced at the nametag, "Clayton. Did you see the bodies?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, yes. I was the first on the scene." he admitted.

"Then you better give me something!" she growled at him again.

Canard grabbed her from behind, not fully restraining her, but to keep her from at least jumping on the officer.

"Well, it looked to be the work of a blade. No gun residue to be found." he explained, and the tears formed again. Visions of her last brother's death evident in her brain.

"and, we also found this." he said, picking up a baggie from the back of a vehicle he had been standing by. In marker read the words _evidence_ across the bag. Inside the bag lay a single golden feather.

"Officer, was this just a random murder?" Canard asked.

"No sir. It was a mugging. A mugging gone horribly wrong if you ask me." Officer Clayton explained. Anna couldn't fight the tears forming in her eyes. She fell back into Canard's arms for a moment before anger clouded her mind again.

"You find him. You find this duck, and you bring him to justice." she commanded Clayton. "If you don't, I will." she growled before storming off back to the car.

Canard looked back at the officer.

"She's-" before he could say more, the officer laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. She's grief stricken. We all are. Your parents were beloved by all who knew them." Clayton said. "I wish I could say more." he added. Canard rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You've done enough. Thank you." he said before walking back. When he turned around, he saw Anna bawling in Nosedive's arms. He could hear her from where he stood. She turned away from him, hiding in Nosedive's chest. Canard only looked up at the sky.

_Why is this happening to us? _


	7. 11 months later

An alarm clock went off causing Anna's blue/green eyes to creak open. She brushed back her long mahogany raven hair before slapping a hand on the alarm. She laid there for a second, rubbing her head before looking to see if the time was right. It was indeed 6:00 p.m. She rolled her eyes before getting up. Her eyes trailed over the room, resting on a picture she had added to the dresser that still held pictures from the past. It was a picture Crystal had insisted on taking as soon as she joined the family. It was her and Canard on the bottom. Crystal sat above Canard while Harry sat above her. She smiled at the memory before shaking her head. She quickly pulled on some jeans before throwing on her black work t-shirt. She ran a brush through her hair before throwing it swiftly into a pony tail. She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth quickly before moving towards the stairs.

"She lives." The voice from the couch assured her that her brother was home.

"Yup." she muttered, going to the kitchen and pouring a cup of coffee. She took a sip of it before sitting down in the recliner. He paused whatever show he was watching so his attention could rest on her.

"Working Graveyard again?" he asked her. She only nodded, spinning the mug in her hand.

"What are you doing up so early then?" he asked her, glancing at the clock to make sure he hadn't stayed up later than he had meant to.

"I think ten hours of sleep is enough to start the night." she said matter of fact.

"You got a date?" he asked her, nudging her playfully.

"Can, stop." she said playfully, shoving him back.

"So, you going out with Trent before your shift?" he asked her. She laughed before nodding.

"Yeah, I am." she said, smiling.

"You guys have been pretty steady for a year, right?" he asked.

"Nine months the end of this month, bro." she said, giving him a look.

"Well, might as well be a year." he muttered, not happy with being wrong. "Is it already February?" he asked her, glancing up.

"Yup. February the fourth, Can." she said. "1995 if..." she started but he stopped her.

"Now, now Annie. I think I can figure that out." he muttered. she laughed at him.

"Had to make sure, Cannie." she insisted before her head bowed again.

"It's almost been a year." she said, glancing at him.

"I know it, Annie. I know it." he said, his gaze falling to the floor.

"I still haven't found that bastard! That's what's pissing me off!" she growled.

"Annie, when you talked about joining the force, you promised me it wasn't to find that ass hat. You promised me!" he said, giving her a look.

"I know, Can. I'm just saying, I feel like he wouldn't just disappear after one murder. I mean, really? I feel like he should have come up again." she said admitting.

"Look, Annie. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen. Don't force it. And please, for Ducaine's sake don't go looking for him." he pleaded.

"Canard, he's not going to take me too. I promise. I won't let him." she promised. He looked away from her. She sighed out.

"Alright, Can. I won't. But I make no promises if a case leads to him or... if he finds me." she said. He nodded in understanding. She breathed out, standing up at the sound of the doorbell.

"Go have fun. You gonna be home before you go to work?" he asked. She nodded.

"He wants to stay here and wait for me to get off work." she smiled at the thought and he smiled at her.

"I'm glad he makes you happy." he said as she smiled back at him before going to the door.

"You ready?" came the familiar voice at the door.

"You take care of my baby sister now, ya hear?" Canard called.

"Yeah yeah, Canard, you'll wring my neck if I break her heart, I know." Trent called playfully causing Canard to chuckle.

"and don't you forget it." he called back, the same playful tone to his voice.

"Bye bro." Anna called, shutting the door.

"Bye Annie." he muttered after she was gone. His mind trailed back to the first time she had fallen for him.

* * *

Anna walked into the house, a smile on her face.

"Annie, what's going on?" he asked her, having heard the truck outside. "Where's your car?" he asked.

"Oh, Dive's bringing it home." she said, a dreamy look to her face.

"What's going on?" he asked again, suspicion evident in her voice.

"Oh, a boy drove me home." she said, dreamily gazing at nothing behind him. Wildwing was there at the time, having been over for a visit.

"A boy!" they both exclaimed. She only nodded.

"Yup." she said, hazily gazing somewhere. Suddenly, something came to her mind. "Oh yeah, hey Cannie. He wants to go out this weekend and I really really want to go! Can I!" she asked, suddenly remembering.

"Ok, you like this guy. I get it... I'm trying to figure out where your senses went when you left Dive your car." Wing said behind them.

"He got detention and I didn't feel like waiting around for him." she explained.

"You mean, you would have waited for him until this boy offered you a ride." Wildwing corrected. A grin appeared across her lips as a stupid giggle escaped her.

"Yeah, okay. You got me." she said, laughing. They both breathed out.

"Annie, I don't know this kid..." Canard said.

"Oh pretty please! He's really nice, and awesome and wants to get to know me. Please!" she insisted.

"You promise to check in?" he asked her.

"Cross my heart, bro." she said, crossing her heart and raising her hand.

"Alright, you guys will leave here at 6. If he's late, that's his fault. You will check in at 8, then ten and home by eleven." he threatened.

"Twelve." she threw out. He breathed in before exhaling heavily.

"eleven thirty." he finally said.

"Deal." she said, shaking his hand.

She pulled out a slip of paper then, dialing something on her cell phone before putting it to her ear. He listened in as she talked on the phone with this Trent boy. She finished her conversation and smiled at Canard before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" she said.

"So, when's this shindig going down?" he asked, smiling.

"Tomorrow." she said. It was a Friday, so tomorrow would be saturday. Great, even more reason for Canard to worry. He shook his head, deciding he would let her go no matter what. He wouldn't be a worry wart.

At about that time, Nosedive opened the door.

"What the hell, Annie? ditching me like that?" he asked, tossing her the keys.

"Sorry, Divey. But Trent offered me a ride home and I felt like getting home." she defended.

"Yeah, uh huh. Or you just wanted a ride with the dreamy green eyed Trenton Icefeather." Nosedive mocked.

"Dive, no it's not like that. He just offered and I thought that was nice of him. I didn't want to turn him down I mean, he was just so nice. It's not like anything came of it." she shrugged it off.

"She has a date with him tomorrow night." Canard added behind them quickly.

"Okay peanut gallery!" she snapped at him, slightly playful.

"I knew it!" Dive practically shouted, before throwing his hands up in the air. "Annie, you don't know him! He'll just end up breaking your heart like he does every other slut he picks up!" Dive argued.

"Oh, so now I'm a slut!" she snapped at him and his face went from assertive to defensive.

"No, Annie I didn't mean..."

"Or are you just jealous?" she asked him and his face turned fearful.

"Jealous? Who's jealous here? Why would I be jealous, or even have a reason to be jealous." he said hurriedly.

"That's it. You're jealous that I got a date before you and it's your planet." she said, thinking she could see right through him.

"No, Annie I-"

"No Dive, I've had it!" she screamed before storming off to her room.

"Damn." Wildwing said behind the two drakes left standing there in a daze.

"Shouldn't have been dissing on her boyfriend." Canard muttered.

"He's not her boyfriend!" Dive snapped.

"yet." Wildwing threw in.

"Ugh, I can't believe you're with him on this!" Dive yelled at his brother, feeling betrayed.

"I can't believe you're in love with Anna." Wildwing said and Dive stopped short of whatever retort was on his beak.

"You are, aren't you?" Canard asked and Nosedive stared at the ground.

"Why didn't you say anything to her?" Wildwing asked him, feeling sadness for his brother. Nosedive shook his head before walking out of the house.

"I guess that's our cue to go home. Later Canard." Wildwing said before leaving the house.

* * *

Canard opened his eyes, realizing some time had passed since Anna had left. Had he fallen asleep? He wasn't sure. Obviously, Trent had made a good impression on both he and Anna. Nosedive had remained silent about his feelings for Anna that whole time. They still hung out and did things together, but Nosedive was stuck in the friend-zone. There was no escaping that.

He flipped the TV back on, watching the evening news and slowly dozing off.


	8. Golden

Anna laughed with Trent as they walked away from the theater.

"that was a stupid movie." she said, laughing.

"But it was funny!" he pointed out. She laughed mockingly at him but then stopped.

"That it was." she said, leaning towards him and kissing him gently. He pulled her into him and kissed her back, passionately. They were the last two who had walked out of the theater and she pulled back from him, reluctantly.

"Alright, Trent. Let's get back to the house. I've got about 45 minutes before I've gotta be to work." she said. He nodded.

"Alright." he said, grabbing her hand as they walked to his truck.

Anna suddenly stopped in her tracks. She could feel they weren't alone.

"Babe, come on." he said, pulling on her hand.

"No, wait Trent. Something's not right." she said.

No sooner had she spoken, a growl came from their left. She threw Trent out of the way before pulling out her gun. Standard issue, being a police woman now and all. The gun was swiped away from her hand and she realized it had been done with a blade.

"Mmm, that's the first time anyone's pulled a gun on me." he mused at her, a blade at her throat.

"Anna!" Trent's frightened voice came and he went to run to her until the bird that had landed on her pulled a blaster out of the holster at his side and pointed it at him.

"Not so fast, buster. Now, your wallets, any jewelry, or anything of value. Quickly. I'll be on my way." said the British bird and Anna came to see him clearly. It was a falcon of some sorts, not a duck. Her eyes rested on his feathers, which emitted a golden tone to them.

Trent hesitated, not sure what to do. He didn't want to look weak in front of Anna by submitting to this guy, but he had a blade against her neck.

"Oh, terribly sorry. Where are my manners? Please?" he said again. Anna's blood began to boil. A blade, golden feathers, and a mugging? It had to be the same bird that took her parents' lives.

She reached behind her back without him knowing onto her belt. Her saber rest there. She clicked it on and in the same motion moved the blade away from her throat whilst rolling away from him and coming to a standing pose.

"Falcone, what did I say about kids?" came an angered Brooklyn voice.

Anna was almost angered by being called a kid. Then, at the thought of it, they were really just kids. He had just turned eighteen after all and she was still sixteen.

"Well, I was just thinking..." the in-charge exterior of the falcon was gone and was replaced by obedience to whatever the new bird had to say.

"That's where you made yer mistake." came a harsh voice from the duck who had arrived. He wore a maroon cat-suit. A saber rested at his belt, with a golden hilt. His feathers were grey, though a darker grey than Trent's feathers, and his hair was the same color with a white streak going through his bangs. An eye patch rest on his left eye.

"But, Duke I-"

"Don't even, Falcone. It's out of my hands. We'll see what the council decides." he said.

"the council?" The falcon's eyes went wide, "but Duke, aren't you one of the members? Certainly you can put in a good word for me..." the falcon pleaded.

"Falcone, don't even. There are seven of us. It must come from the vote as a whole." he said matter of fact.

"What about them?" Falcone asked, pointing to them.

"What about my parents!" Anna growled, finally speaking.

"Yeah, about her parents?" Duke asked, eyeballing Falcone.

"I haven't the slightest idea, really." Falcone muttered.

"Last March, in an alleyway. 5th and Blaine, I believe." she growled at him, raising her saber threateningly.

Realization entered his eyes as Duke's angry gaze fell on him.

"What's she talking about, Falcone?" he asked.

"Haven't the slightest, Duke." he said, although he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Come, Falcone. Let's go home." he said.

"So we can forget about this whole mess?" Falcone said hopefully.

"So we can try you for mugging of minors and murder." Duke growled, not the least bit amused.

"Sorry, ol' boy. Can't let that happen." Falcone muttered. Duke turned but not fast enough. Anna saw the falcon making his way towards Duke, saber drawn. She had already figured out that Duke wasn't the bad guy here. She barreled into Falcone's side, hoping to catch him before he reached Duke. As Duke turned, however, Falcone's blade ran across his beak, knocking him back. Anna wrestled Falcone to the ground, knocking the saber from his grip before bashing his head against the pavement. Falcone gasped in pain as Anna stood up. She forgot about the worthless pile of golden feathers and walked back over to Duke.

"You alright?" she asked, reaching out a hand to help him up. He was gripping his beak, blood spilling out of it.

"I'll live." he muttered, wincing against the pain as tears came to his eyes.

* * *

Canard glanced at the clock nervously. Something wasn't right, too much time had gone by. He knew which theater they had probably gone to.

"No." he decided, shaking his head. He had to be over reacting. He glanced at the keys on the table before focusing back on the TV. He squeezed his eyes shut again before looking at the keys again.

"Awe, hell." he muttered, grabbing the keys and heading for the door.

* * *

Anna clashed her blade against Falcone's again and again, blocking his attacks and also attempting to attack. They circled each other again and again, throwing blows here and there.

Duke now had a handkerchief on his beak, courtesy of Trent, as he watched Anna helplessly.

He felt like he should jump in and help her. At the same time, he didn't want to throw off her focus or accidentally hit her also. Suddenly, squealing tires were heard in the parking lot and Trent and Duke turned to look at the car that came the a screeching halt beside them. Anna used the distraction and bent down low, kicking out a leg and tripping Falcone while kicking the blade from his hand. He grabbed his hand in pain and as she used momentum to spin herself around and come crashing down on top of him, blade inches away from his throat.

"You worthless filth." she spat, banging his head against the pavement.

"Anna!" she was surprised and yet relieved by the voice she heard. She stood up, looking over at her older brother who had stepped out of the car.

"Canard!" she said, rushing into his arms.

"What happened!" he asked.

"I found him, Canard. I found the bastard that killed mom and dad." she said, glancing back at Falcone. He only shook his head, pulling her tighter into his arms.

"Good job, Annie. We'll take him to court." he promised.

"You've got a real fighter on your hands." came the brooklyn accented voice, and Canard looked up at him.

"Who are you?" he asked defensively.

"Canard, he's fine." she defended.

"Duke." said the duck, holding out a hand and shaking Canard's hand.

"Canard." he introduced as Trent joined them.

They stood there in the circle, introducing each other not really thinking about the falcon Anna had left on the ground.

Falcone groaned before reaching into his holster, pulling out his blaster.

"Bye bye, bitch." he muttered. Duke saw him aiming his blaster and jumped on the bird, knocking the blaster off target. However, a shot rang out in the parking lot.

Duke pulled back his fist, knocking Falcone in the jaw. Once, twice. Three times. A trail of blood formed around Falcone's beak.

Duke pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the bird to the lamp post nearby.

"Really Duke, hand cuffs?" he asked incredulously.

"nah, special cuffs. Made special by the council. No bird's ever been able to pick the lock. Only opens with this special key." he said, holding it up before dropping it back into his shirt pocket.

"Anna!" Duke's head turned at the worried voice of the one he had been introduced to as Canard.

He went over to the group where Anna lay. A puddle of blood was forming around her, the source coming from her right shoulder.

"Give me some room, Trent." Canard commanded, tearing his coat from his shoulders and wrapping it around her shoulders. Blood was trailing out of her mouth as her body trembled.

"Annie?" Canard said, worry evident in his voice. "Annie, stay with me!" he commanded her before picking her up and placing her in the passenger seat of the car. He shut the door and turned back to Duke.

"If you ever need me, I'll be in the East Warehouse on the far side of town. Duke L'Orange." he said his name with caution as realization came to Canard's face.

"You're Duke L'Orange!" he exclaimed. Duke placed a finger to his beak. The bleeding had stopped now, for the most part and a chip was evident in his beak.

"Yes. But I'll be forever in her debt. She saved my life tonight. If you ever should need my help with anything, I'm in the East Warehouse across town. When asked, tell them you've come to settle your debt." he said.

"Thanks Duke." Canard said, shaking his hand.

Duke nodded. "Keep an eye on that girl of yours." Duke made him promise before running off into the night.

Canard got into the car and sped off for the ER, whilst calling the cops.

"Hello, yes. Listen, Anna's not going to be able to make it into work tonight. There's also some scum in the Cylton West Theater parking lot I think you ought to pick up soon." Canard said into the phone.

"alright, thanks Can." it had been Lucy who had answered the phone when he called.

He hung up the phone, peering in the rearview mirror at the lights that followed him. Trent was no doubt just as worried as he was. He glanced over at Anna who twitched in the chair next to him.

"Just hang in there, sis. Hang in there." he pleaded, turning the corner and heading for Cylton General Hospital.


	9. Cluck Norris and Billy Joel

Duke swung on his grappling hook off the roof of the building, landing with ease in front of the warehouse. He walked up to the door, punching the security code in before it clicked open. He grabbed the handle, walking in. This was his life, his future, his family.

"Duke!" his thoughts were interrupted by a voice walking his way. He turned to look at the white duck.

"I was wondering if you got Falcone." Darren asked, his brown eyes searching Duke.

"He got himself arrested." Duke said calmly.

Darren looked irritated.

"That idiot."

"Look, I know it's our code to bale one of our own out but-" Duke started but Darren raised a hand.

"I know it, Duke. I know what he did to your eye and there's not a doubt in my mind that he was the cause of that chip in your beak." Darren said, letting him know he'd seen it.

Darren walked forward.

"Look, Duke. I'll talk it over with the council. It's not like I want to break in and save him, but if he's in there long enough and figures out we're not going to come after him, he might rat us out." Darren explained under a hushed breath.

"I understand that, Darren. Now if you'll excuse me, I need some much needed rest." Duke said before turning for his own bunk.

"Oh Duke?" he turned his head toward the beautiful blond that made her way toward him. She wore a tight button up blue belly shirt, tied in the front and short shorts.

"Hey, Cherise." he welcomed, opening his arms to her. She ran into his arms, locking beaks with him until he winced a little.

"Duke, baby what happened?" she asked.

"Eh, nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart. Why don't you go on to the bunk. I'll be there shortly." he promised her. She smiled at him before practically skipping off. He turned to see the look he expected to see on Darren's face.

"You can't keep doing this, Duke." he scolded.

"Doing what?" he asked in defense.

"Oh, I think you know what. Yesterday it was Charity. Last week it was that Ursula chick." Darren raised his eyebrows, dragging his point across. "How long is this going to go on?" he asked, "I mean, you'll need to settle down sometime."

"Do I?" Duke asked, "What life do we live, Darren? If I ever fell in love, she would never be able to live her life."

"If she loved you, she would make the changes for you." Darren insisted.

"I wouldn't expect her to, and I wouldn't want her to." Duke said.

"Hey, do what you want. I'm just saying, one day you might actually fall in love." Darren muttered.

"Ha, the day that happens, I'll buy YOU a hooker." Duke laughed before walking off towards his room.

He opened the door to his room. It was practically dark, except for a dimmed bedside lamp.

Cherise was sitting on the bed. She stood up when she saw him.

"What was that about?" she asked him, referring to why he stayed and talked to Darren. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Just work." he lied, dropping his arms to her waist before planting a kiss on her lips. It hurt on the chip, so he was keeping his kisses to where the chip wasn't. His hands pulled her body closer, into his own body as her arms wrapped tighter around his broad shoulders, their beaks locked.

His hands picked her up and planted her hips on his. He moved them toward the bed, falling gently on top of her as his hands fiddled with the buttons on her shirt. Soon, the shirt was on the floor as he dove into her soft kisses again.

His hands trailed down her body, undoing the short shorts and sliding them off skillfully as she messed with the buttons on his suit. Soon, his chest was bare and she was fully undressed, laid out on his bed.

Before Duke could even think about going all the way, he stopped short.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked him, sensing his hesitation. His mind wasn't on her. For some reason, it had wandered back to Anna. He shook his head.

"Nothing, sweetheart." he said before letting himself fall back into her embrace.

* * *

Duke lay in bed. A good three hours had passed since his return. Cherise was next to him, her bare body beneath the covers, her breathing signifying she was fast asleep. His arms rest behind his head. He shook his head. His thoughts kept wandering back to Anna. Oh sure, she gets shot in the shoulder and here he was, well... you know. He sighed out before standing up. He pulled on a pair of sweats and a white tank top before grabbing his saber and overcoat and leaving his room.

* * *

Anna wasn't sure where she was. All she knew was she felt a pain in her shoulder. She heard voices and kept her eyes shut as she listened to the conversation. Before long, she could tell it was her brother speaking with another duck.

"She's past the threatening point, Canard. She'll make a full recovery." promised the unrecognizable voice.

"Thanks doc." Canard said before he yawned.

"You let Trent go home and sleep. Why don't you?" the doctor asked.

"I need to be here for her." Canard insisted.

"Yes, but you're also working an early shift in the morning. She'll be fine. I promise, her vitals are good. I'll call you if anything happens." the doctor promised.

"I appreciate it doc." Canard said, and she heard their footsteps exit as they continued to hold a small conversation on their way out.

She let her eyes remain shut. She felt tired even though she knew she had slept all day. What time was it anyways? Her thoughts were interrupted by the squeak of the window.

"Oh, Anna." she recognized the Brooklyn accent.

"This is all my fault." he muttered. She felt him move around the bed to the side where a chair was. She heard the chair take his weight. "I'm so sorry, Anna. If I hadn't of shown up-"

"We would have died." Anna said, and she hated how her voice sounded weak. Her eyes creaked open and she looked at him.

"Thank god, how you feeling?" he asked her, leaning forward.

"Doc said I'll make a full recovery. It stings a little but it's fine." she promised him. Then her hand moved tenderly over the chip in his beak, not really touching it.

"What about you?" she asked him.

"It's okay. It kind of tickles if you touch it wrong, but nothing Duke L'Orange can't handle." he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"This is my fault if anything, Duke." she muttered, letting her hand drop from his beak.

"Why would you say that, sweetheart?" he asked her.

"We shouldn't have gone to the movies." she muttered.

"Oh, Anna. You couldn't have known that asshole would be there." he insisted, holding her hand.

"Duke, I'm glad you were there." she said unexpectedly. He looked taken aback.

"I didn't do much." he muttered.

"You saved my life." she insisted. He shook his head.

"I didn't save you, I put you in here." he said with guilt evidence in his voice.

"No, he did that. Duke, he might have had a kill shot lined up. Thanks to you, he only nicked me in the shoulder. I'll forever be indebted to you." she said. He smiled at her as she yawned.

"And I'll be forever indebted to you Anna." he said, standing up. He leaned over her in the bed and kissed her forehead lightly.

"Now, get some sleep." he said, moving away from the bed. She couldn't protest as sleep overtook her.

Duke took one last glance at her and smiled before leaping away from the window.

* * *

Two weeks found Anna finally back on duty, full time detective. She was sitting in the living room with Nosedive, watching some stupid show he had recorded wanting to show her how funny it was.

"Anna, I've gotta tell ya, if you wouldn't have made it-"

"But I did." she cut him off, not wanting to have that conversation. Especially not with him. He was too fun loving to have a sentimental conversation with.

"Annie, can I get this off my chest at least?" he asked her.

"No, you may not." she snapped.

"I'm going to anyway." he finally said. She didn't answer him, only sat there.

"Listen, Anna. When I first heard you were in the hospital my first thought was injured on the job. I got so scared, Anna. Usually when a cop gets injured on duty, it's fatal. When I heard the rest, I was so happy it was just a shoulder shot. What I'm trying to say is if you would have died that night, if it would have been fatal I-" he cut himself off, unable to finish.

"Dive, I know what you're trying to say." she finally said after a deep breath.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes. I know how I would feel if you were in my place. Dive, you're like a brother to me and my life would be so different without you." she admitted.

"Brother, right." he muttered so she couldn't hear him.

"You don't need to say anymore. I know." she said.

_No, you don't _he thought, but he let it go. She had already said the dreaded word "brother".

"In happy news, that golden feathered bastard is behind bars." Nosedive said with a happier tone to his voice.

"Speaking of which, didn't he just get sentenced to prison?" she asked.

"Yeah, but something weird happened there. One night he was perfectly fine and he was trying to strike up a deal. Something about his release for the location of a well known thieves guild. The next day, he was talking gibberish." Nosedive muttered.

"That is weird." she added, turning her attention back to the TV. The two remained quiet for the remainder of the day.

* * *

_Earlier that week _

Duke looked uncertainly at Darren.

"You sure this won't kill him and be suspicious?" Duke asked.

"Don't worry. No urine test can pick this crap up. And it'll only make him delusional for a few days. Long enough for them to lock him up and toss away the key. By the time it wears off, nobody will be willing to listen to him." Darren laughed mischievously after he shared that information.

"I wouldn't mind if it did kill him. I just don't want to give the police any more reason to come looking for us." Duke muttered.

"Ay, that girl from the parking lot. Ain't she with the cops?" Darren asked as they slid through the ventilation into the police station where they were keeping Falcone locked up.

"Yeah. Yet another reason why your argument is invalid." Duke spat in a whisper. Darren shrugged, a grin evident on his face.

"I'm just saying. You had your little parking lot fun and suddenly, you're bringing less girls home. Like, you know, none." he whispered back, grinning.

"It's the chip in the beak. Scares the ladies off." Duke muttered. Darren might have had a remark had they not come over an opening beneath them. Peering down, they didn't see anyone directly below it. Darren lifted the latches carefully and lowered the door so it was hanging off it's hinges. They both lowered down, one looking down the north end while the other was glancing down the south end.

"Nothing here." Duke whispered.

"I'm good this way." Darren added before dropping down, landing on his hands and doing a hand spring so he was standing up straight. Duke rolled his eyes before rolling around so he could jump down to his feet.

"Okay, so according to these blue prints, we're here and he should be..." Darren was reading the blue prints as if they were a map. "here!" he said excitedly. They both headed down the hallway, coming up to some barred rooms. Any one of them could hold Falcone.

"What the deuce!"

"Found him." Duke muttered, pointing a thumb where a golden falcon's face had appeared.

"Oh, Duke. Darren. I knew you would come for me, I just knew it!" he said with fake gratitude.

"Well, came to shut you up." Darren said and before Falcone knew what they were doing, he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Darren pressed the syringe down and watched as Falcone fell to the floor. Duke glanced at him nervously.

"you sure it didn't kill him?" he asked. As soon as he said that, Falcone's head popped up.

"Who are you?" he asked them.

"Let's go." Darren told Duke, grabbing his arm.

"Now hold on, let's have some fun with this." he muttered before turning his attention back to the falcon.

"I'm Cluck Norris and this here is Billy Joel." he introduced.

"Oh, very pleased to meet you. And who am I?" he asked.

"You're Falcone. Now, when the nice men in blue uniform come to take you to breakfast, be sure you let them know we were here. Remember, Cluck Norris and Billy Joel." he said. Falcone nodded in understanding.

"Goodbye Cluck Norris and Billy Joel." he said as they walked away. Duke chuckled under his breath as they entered back through the ventilation system.

"That was too easy!" Darren said excitedly as they crawled back through the ventilation system.

"Nah, we got lucky. Look at the map. Where we came out is just by a checkpoint for a guard. We chose a good time and a good hall." Duke explained. Darren only nodded as they came out on the roof.

"Now, let's go home with no chances of losing it now." Duke chuckled as he shot a grappling hook. Darren laughed after him.

"Cluck Norris. Oh geez." Darren muttered, laughing as he shot a grappling hook after Duke and disappeared into the night.


	10. The Ice Rink

Anna laid in her bed, Trent next to her. Her body was wrapped around his, her hand on his chest, head on his shoulder.

"When do you leave in the morning?" she asked again. He had answered it so many times, but she was asking again.

"Six." he muttered. Her eyes wandered to the bedside table where the clock sat. It was now 11:32.

"You should probably get some sleep." she told him, nuzzling closer to him.

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to miss you Anna." he said.

"You'll write, won't you?" she asked him suddenly.

"I'd say I will but I'm not that good at remembering to do things like that. How bout this babe," he started.

"huh?" she asked.

"How about I make a surprise visit when I can. I mean, afterall. No wars are going on. Nothing bad is going to happen. I mean, why do you think they let your brother, one of the greatest colonels of all time, stay home?" he said.

"Yeah, but Canard's been out of the military for a couple of years." she said.

"He's been on call Anna." he added.

"Yeah, I know. He told me. As soon as mom and dad died he decided it would be the best time to let me know that he could just one day get called back." she muttered, looking away.

"Hey, he's not going to leave you. It's been quiet for way too long. No wars. No threats. I'm only going for training. As soon as that's done, I'll be right back here with you. I promise." he said, tilting her chin to look at him. She smiled up at him lovingly before they shared a kiss.

"You better." she said sleepily, leaning back against his shoulder.

"I will." he promised before sleep over took both of them.

* * *

Anna shot awake suddenly. She looked around quickly before realization settled that she was alone in bed. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was 9:15 in the morning. She shook her head before crawling out of bed. She didn't bother getting ready for the day, knowing she had it off. Instead she grabbed a robe, slipped on her slippers and went downstairs.

"Hey sis." Canard welcomed her.

"Hey Can." she muttered, taking a seat on the couch across from him.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah." she muttered, not even glancing at him.

"Trent leave?" he asked.

She only nodded, her gaze never leaving the TV. Canard looked sullenly at her before an idea popped into his head. He left her to watch whatever reality TV show was on while he went to the phone.

"Hello?" he said when the other end picked up. "I think we should meet up at the rink." there was a pause as the duck on the other end responded.

"Eh, it's just Annie. Trent left and I think this would be the perfect way to get her mind off of it. She loves skating." another short pause before an exaggerated reply. "Well, **now **she does. Yup, see ya there. Bye." Canard hung the phone up triumphantly before walking into the other room. He switched off the TV and stood in front of Anna.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Come on, Anna. Go get dressed. I've got a surprise for you." he said, smiling.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Look, Can. I appreciate whatever you're trying to do but I'd rather just stay home today." she said.

"But Anna, Wing already went to a lot of trouble..." he trailed off, knowing he had her. She would never let anyone go to any trouble for her and not have it pay off.

"Oh, fine." she muttered, standing up. "This had better be worth **his **trouble." she sneered at him, but he knew it was just her sarcastic way of dealing with Trent going into the military. He smiled as he grabbed his skates and her skates from the closet and ran outside, tossing them in the trunk. He went back in the house to see her walking down the stairs. She was in a pair of jeans with a sky blue plain hoodie. Her messed up hair was brushed out and thrown up into a regular pony tail. She was still glaring at him.

"Come on sis." he said, rolling his eyes at her as he wrapped an arm around her and guided her out to the car.

Anna's eyes widened as they pulled up to the ice rink. She turned and looked at Canard.

"See, I told you it'd be worth it." he dragged out. She punched him playfully.

"Fine, bro. It's worth it." she said as she looked back out her window. She had already spotted Nosedive and Wildwing, who had already set up a net. Nosedive was practicing slap shots while Wing was working on his goalie work.

"Let's go." Canard said, pulling the skates out and walking over to the rink with her. She placed her skates on and both of them skated over to the other duo, hockey sticks in hand.

"Hey Anna." Wing said, smiling upon seeing her.

"Hey guys." she said, happy to be out in the fresh air. Canard was right, this was what she needed.

"So, Two on two?" she asked them, eying both of them.

"Sure, why not." Canard said. "I get Wildwing." he said quickly.

"Oh screw you!" Anna glared at him.

"Awe, you don't like being with the divester?" Dive asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Dive, you and I both know we suck at goalie position." she said matter of fact. He looked to be in thought at this statement before finally nodding in agreement.

"This is true. Oh well, we'll lose with dignity!" he said, holding his fist high.

Playing hockey two on two is by no means valuable to improving skill. But it sure is fun, and kept the three ducks and human busy for hours. Finally, they decided the game had been enough and they'd just skate around. Wildwing had asked Canard to hit some pucks at him to work on goalie skills while Anna and Dive just skated around for a bit.

"So how long is Trent gone for?" Dive asked as they skated around talking.

"I don't know. basic training lasts about nine weeks, so probably about that long. Maybe more if something goes wrong." she muttered.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know, a war?" she asked in thought.

"Oh come on Annie, there hasn't been a legit war since Drake Ducaine." Nosedive said.

"Excuse me?" Canard asked, stopping in his escapade of pucks to address Nosedive, "but there has been and I fought in two of them!" he snapped at the teenager.

"Okay, besides the ducks from Byburn who want nothing more than to start a fight with anyone. I'm talking about legit alien invasion Can!"

"What you mean like the saurian overlords?" Anna asked, referring back to history class.

"Exactly! Drake Ducaine! He totally ruled Canard!" Dive said, beginning his skate circle around Canard and Wing. Canard rolled his eyes and went back to firing pucks at Wing.

"The saurian overlords had conquered everything. I mean it was game over for the whole universe, man." Dive said, going into the lesson he and Anna had gone over when they had been in High School.

"Nobody could find them cause they had like these evil magic powers!" Dive went on.

"Or cloaking fields." Anna added. Dive nodded, showing her statement could be true too.

"Drake Ducaine invents this crazy mask... a goalie mask..." he ripped Wing's mask from his face, to which Wing glared at him irritably but still playfully. "to see through their invisible shields!" Dive continued on, excitement in his voice as he put the mask on his own beak to prove his point.

"So he hunts down the evil saurians with the mask, right? He kicks their scaly tails clear into another dimension, and the crowd goes wild!" In his excitement, Nosedive lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Man Wildwing, I couldn't get a single puck past you today." Canard praised, ignoring the teenager's outbursts.

"You want a real hero Dive? Well check out Canard here. He was the best student back in school, fought two battles as a colonel and nobody has ever beat him on the ice. He's a real team captain." Wing praised back.

"Besides, I've heard all the stories about Drake Ducaine. They're just legends." he added as Dive picked himself up.

"Legends?" Anna asked in disbelief behind Dive.

"Wake up and smell yourself man, you're talking about the greatest duck who ever quacked. Flat out." Dive exclaimed.

"Relax baby brother, the saurian empire vanished centuries ago." Wing soothed, wrapping an arm around him as the four of them walked off the ice for the day. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Anna was quiet once she got in the car.

"What's wrong, sis?" he asked her, afraid that without the distraction her mind was back on Trent.

"Legends? It sounds so real though. It's got to be real. I can feel it." she insisted. He looked incredulously at her.

"You're going to believe something Nosedive says? He's got his head up in the clouds, sis. Don't let him get to you." Canard said.

"Yeah, but there's more. There's more to it. Drake Ducaine kicks the saurians off our planet. What's to keep them from coming back?" she asked as they pulled away from the rink.

"Sis, if they haven't come back yet, after so many centuries have passed, I wouldn't be expecting them anytime soon if at all." Canard soothed.

With that, the conversation was over as they continued on to the house.


End file.
